A San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy charged with possession of illegal firearms, explosive devices and grand theft in connection with the Mongols outlaw motorcycle gang pleaded not guilty Tuesday, April 9, at his first court appearance on the charges.
Shackled and wearing a green jail jumpsuit indicating he has been isolated from the general population at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, Christopher Bingham appeared before Judge Colin Bilash in San Bernardino Superior Court.
Bingham, 45, is charged with 10 felony counts, including grand theft of a Remington 870 shotgun — reportedly stolen from the Sheriff’s Department — and possession of a machine gun, a short-barreled AR-15 assault rifle, two explosive devices and four gun silencers. He is being held on $240,000 bail and was ordered to return to court April 18 for a preliminary hearing.
Each charge against Bingham includes a gang enhancement alleging the crimes were committed “for the benefit of, at the direction of, and in association with a criminal street gang,” in this case, the Mongols outlaw motorcycle gang.
Bingham, an 18-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department, was arrested on Thursday, April 4, at his home in Twentynine Palms, where a March 23 raid by sheriff’s investigators yielded 160 firearms, explosive devices and Mongols paraphernalia, including a fully-patched leather vest, according to the Sheriff’s Department and sources close to the investigation.
Clutching a white motorcycle helmet as he left the San Bernardino Justice Center following Tuesday’s proceedings, Bingham’s attorney, Jeff G. Moore, declined to comment, other than to say, “The preliminary hearing should be interesting.”
Asked to elaborate, Moore, a former Riverside County prosecutor, said, “I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”
Background checks
The criminal case against Bingham isn’t his first brush with trouble from his own department.
In late 2019 or early 2020,…
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